pre<eyes right before surgery>pre<1 month later>pre<3 months later>pre<11 months later>preHello? The surgery-type selection button only applied to this, so I chose three-part contouring, but actually the contouring was zygoma and square jaw, two procedures. I also had eye surgery.
I had upper blepharoplasty (including ptosis correction and fat grafting) and facial contouring at this hospital exactly one year ago. A close acquaintance told me they had a successful contouring surgery at this hospital more than ten years ago, which made me very envious. I finally got the chance, and although I went there last year at long last (I live abroad), that doctor (the current chief director) was no longer performing surgeries, so the doctor recommended by the hospital (the one I listed in the hospital info above) did the operation for me. The director in charge told me this doctor was also a contouring specialist, had abundant eye-surgery experience, and was very skilled. The doctor did not leave a bad impression, was handsome, and seemed sufficiently intelligent.
In the photos above, the first one is my eyes before surgery. (They had drooped a lot, and by afternoon I looked extremely sleepy and felt uncomfortable, so I decided to have it done.) From the next photos onward, they are eye photos from one month after surgery up to the most recent one (one month ago), and the facial bones after surgery. (The yellow line on the chin in the last photo was drawn by the chief director who performed my revision surgery while planning the operation.) In the photos, everything is marked as before, but what I uploaded is before - after - after - after - after - after.
My eyes already had double eyelids, so the consultation plan was to remove only the sagging part, do ptosis correction to make them easier to open, and add fat grafting to improve the hollowed areas.
When I asked when we would discuss the eye design, I was told it would be discussed on the day of surgery, immediately before entering the operating room. On the day itself, they asked what kind of eyes I wanted, and as I had already said, I answered that I just wanted them to look similar to how they were when I was younger. When I asked whether I could show photos, they said it was unnecessary and that they could tell everything without looking. I thought, as expected, a specialist really is different, and trusted them.
For the contouring, they recommended zygoma and square jaw, so I had those done. As for the chin, I had advancement surgery at another hospital a long time ago when I was young. When I asked whether it should be done together this time too, they said the chin did not need to be done, so I decided not to.
So when I saw the swelling go down a bit after surgery at this large hospital, my eyes looked completely different from the shape they had when I was young, which was shocking, and the zygoma hardly seemed reduced at all, while the square jaw looked asymmetric. Still, they said it was due to swelling and that if I waited it would become almost the same, and that the triangular double eyelids would become rounded and the eyelashes, which had been lifted, would settle back straight, so two months after surgery I returned to my home abroad. As time passed, the problems I felt seemed not to improve but rather to become worse, and I felt that revision surgery was unavoidable. I tried not to look at myself because I thought small children would be scared, and I stayed home, stopping social life including work, going out only to the dentist or to get a haircut. I also tried to forget my favorite restaurants and movie theaters. Close friends came to my house. (My friends were truly a huge source of strength. They gave me hope and helped me relax with funny stories. This time I felt even more strongly how grateful I am to them, and that was worthwhile.) In any case, I was told revision surgery would only be possible after more than six months.
Even when almost a year had passed, although the triangular shape of the eyes had softened somewhat, to me they still looked somewhat grotesque, witch-like, and evil. The contouring also looked strange and, even by touch, I could not understand it. (When I came back this time and checked the CT scan, I understood why it had looked that way. I requested the CT and everything else on a USB and received it directly from that large hospital. If you look at the bone images, you can tell it is asymmetric and the zygoma looks barely improved, right? Especially on the right side of the face in the photo, it is not a curve but a sharp angle.)
So this September, almost a year later, I came back to Korea and met with the chief director who performed the surgery (the one listed in the hospital info) and told them about it. They said that the result they had made was, at that level, a very successful surgery. However, when I asked why the eyes were so different from the young eyes I had requested, they did not answer, so I did not hear an explanation. The triangular double eyelid they made on one eye had already settled for more than six months (younger people may not know this, but one of my close friends looked at my triangular eye and told me to do a pointed-tip dance, haha), and the redness on the eyelids also remained until the revision surgery this year. People around me who were more restrained would see me shrinking back and say, “It’s fine. You need at least three months. That’s normal.” I could not really say, “I’m already at eight months,” so I would just say, “Ah, yes.” Still, I was impressed that they strongly insisted it was an excellent surgery. To that doctor, my eyes in the photo may have looked beautiful. Perspectives differ. I also believe that the doctor’s words (the one listed in the hospital info) were sincere. It was simply that our tastes were very different.
In any case, I had no intention of getting revision surgery there, so I asked for a refund, but the hospital called back and said there was absolutely no problem with the result.
Even though I did not get back a single won of the surgery fee, which was well over ten million won, the most important purpose of this visit was to have revision surgery as quickly as possible with a doctor whose aesthetic sense matched mine and who also had skill. Fortunately, I had made the effort to find such a person in advance, and the result was quite satisfying given how difficult the situation had become. The revision doctor this year said the jaw that had already become asymmetric could not be reconstructed, which surprised me, but said they would align the rest as much as possible to make it look symmetrical, and they did so. I am glad my eyes this year have returned to being a little naïve-looking like before, but not looking mean. They also released the ptosis correction and redid it appropriately, so my eyelashes came back into place. The overly fat-grafted areas were partially removed, so they no longer look like I was stung by bees, which is good. I will not upload the photos from this year’s revision surgery. This review is about the hospital and doctor I entered in the hospital info above.
Long ago, when people said revision surgery costs twice as much, I thought, “No way,” but it was true. I calculated it now and it came to exactly 2.18 times as much. But after hearing the explanation of the revision process, it felt like a perfectly natural and reasonable cost. (Thanks to that, my emergency savings are being emptied. Still, I had no choice but to do it. It felt more like a necessity than a choice.) To restore the previous surgery results as much as possible and to properly redo everything in an already difficult situation, it takes much more time too.
But I want to accept everything that happened this time as a result of the first surgeon (the one I wrote about in the hospital info above) and me having different standards of beauty. (Even if I do not accept it, I was told a refund would not happen, so I am trying to control my mindset this way.) There is no need to resent it now either. That doctor is also a specialist with their own convictions. Standards are diverse in the first place. Among you, too, there may be people who would like my eye shape in the photo. If so, someone like that might look at me and think my taste is old-fashioned and out of step with the times. I just tend to have ordinary and conservative tastes. When I see actors whom everyone says are pretty, I also think so, I like classic beauty types, I prefer women to look feminine and men to look spirited, and that is about it.
In any case, if there are people who want my eye style in those somewhat scary-looking photos, or who want contouring that is a bit unusual, asymmetrical on both sides, and gives a sly coyote-like impression so that others cannot easily approach them, then I think this doctor would be worth consulting. It has a bit of a Halloween style even without makeup. It also reminds me of Cinderella’s stepmother’s eyes. Though that stepmother was at least slender and had good body proportions…
Oh, there is one more thing. During the eye surgery, they just used general anesthesia (since contouring was done together) and completed everything while I was fully anesthetized, and when I woke up, the eye surgery had also been made triangular like that. Later, while looking for a revision doctor and reading reviews of other hospitals, I was startled to learn that some places start with sedation anesthesia and then, while the patient is conscious, repeatedly have them open and close their eyes to check the shape. (So this time, for the revision, I went to a revision specialist doctor who is famous for being extremely meticulous in that way, and they really had me open and close my eyes more than a hundred times while checking. It hurt more than finishing everything under full anesthesia, but of course not to an unbearable degree; it just stung a bit. I endured it gladly. The doctor was working hard for me, after all. They spent two hours just on the surgery time, with no attempt to save time even though they were reviewing everything again and checking every detail before starting surgery. Seeing them devote themselves only to my eyes made me feel, in my heart, that even if the result had ended up unsatisfactory despite such a skilled doctor being so careful, I would have to accept that it was simply unavoidable. The effort and professionalism really came through.)
Still, if you want it to hurt as little as possible, then a doctor like this one (the one I listed in the hospital info), who finishes while leaving everything under anesthesia without checking, would also be good.
The contouring revision doctor was also professional and careful, and it was moving how they did everything solely from the patient’s perspective. When explaining the surgical plan to me, because my condition was more complex than that of a first-time contouring patient, they said that when my face was opened, it would be best if the bones inside moved this way, but if they were positioned differently and the original plan could not be followed, they would approach it from this side and do it like this, and so on. They came up with several scenarios and were burning with enthusiasm, saying that whatever happened they would improve it as much as possible, as if it were their own face. It reminded me of Napoleon, who supposedly went out for each battle with 500 different strategies. It was truly reassuring.) Especially this contouring hospital this time, which is a one-doctor specialty clinic that only does contouring, had every staff member acting with the same kindness and professionalism as the director, and I was happy to feel that they took pride in their work. If I asked anything, they would not act annoyed but would instead explain things as thoroughly as possible. They would also wait to see if anything else was needed, and that too was just like the director. They naturally put in an effort that would usually be possible only for family, and even then only for someone especially close. The director-in-charge also answered everything smoothly, replied very quickly when contacted, continued to guide me attentively after surgery, and made appointments several times so that it was never difficult to meet the director directly, who then looked at the wounds and bruises and explained my questions in detail. It was truly moving, and I am grateful.
The conclusion is that it is truly important to work with a doctor who understands your own preferences. My own thoughts and standards are not the only ones. In fact, we live in a world where diversity is becoming increasingly valuable and respected. I also very much love diversity.
I hope all of you get good results from all the surgeries you have in the future from the very beginning. (I say this because I have painfully learned the difficulty and stress of having to undergo revision surgery.)
Thank you.
Thank you for reading my post. But I feel a little guilty, so I will write a bit more. The doctors really did perform the surgery well, but if you look at me now, everyone will probably go, “Huh?” and think, “That’s supposed to be a good result?” No, it is not pretty at all. I am older too, and my facial elasticity is very poor, so the revision doctor naturally recommended that I also get a lift, but because I was still scared from last year’s experience, I could not bring myself to go that far this time, so I only had contouring. So I really cannot complain at all. Still, having my impression become normal is a relief. I have learned how precious it is simply not to look mean, even if I do not look pretty.
And while preparing for revision this time, I reflected a lot. From now on, I will not judge people by their looks alone, and when I saw people with obvious signs of cosmetic surgery, I used to secretly think, “Why did they do that?” and look down on them a little, but I have also learned that the result may be completely different from what the person actually wanted, so I will not do that anymore. Sorry that the spacing is not very good because I am only able to write this on a tablet.